It may be called the Golden State but to illegal immigrants it has fast turned into the “Pewter State” or so it may seem, as California an all-time low growth in the illegal immigrant population. The state always had and still has the largest count of illegal immigrants in the nation but that position is deteriorating fast.

Back in 2000, California was home to 30 % of illegal immigrants in the country. However by 2009, that number had dropped to 24 %. This does not mean that illegal immigrants have left the state, in fact the population numbers are more or less unchanged, but rather that newcomers to the nation prefer to go elsewhere. The fact that California’s illegal immigrant population has grown from 2.5 million in 2000 to 2.6 million in 2009 (only a meager 100,000) is evidence of a lack of attraction.

Experts point out that this is mainly due to the troubles that California and the nation are facing. With recession hitting every part of the nation, California especially has been hit hard as it has been suffering from a recession beginning in the early parts of the nineties. The lack of jobs, steadily increasing cost of living and public services that are deteriorating fast have made the state undesirable for illegal immigrants.

Although other states have seen a boom in their illegal immigrant population, the overall numbers in the nation have actually dropped; from 11.8 million in 2007 the population has fallen to 10.8 million in 2009. Experts point out that the recession is the main cause for the drop as many illegal immigrants have gone back to their native countries due to the lack of jobs.
The data was made available in a report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics.